


Loose Lips Sink Ships

by whiffingbooks



Series: These prompts keep pulling me in [5]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 31 Days Writing Challenge, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, But not in good light, F/M, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:20:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25747306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiffingbooks/pseuds/whiffingbooks
Summary: Prompt: SoulmatesGinny doesn't believe in soul-bonding. She might not be opposed to believing in soulmates.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley
Series: These prompts keep pulling me in [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1859185
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





	Loose Lips Sink Ships

_ Bond with your soulmate any day now! Call us on the number given below. _

No one stared at the hoarding. Ginny wondered whether anyone else stopped to take in the monstrosity pasted all over. Probably not. The crowd milled around her, not paying her the slightest attention. For a while, she stood and stared until her phone chimed with a text. She took it out.

_ I need you to pick up some ale for tonight. And be on time. It's rude to keep people waiting. _

It was from her brother, of course. Ron always annoyed her. Even when he wasn't physically present.

"Fine, you tosser. As long as you bring the crisps," she muttered as she typed. Shoving her phone back into her pocket, she sighed. No need of standing around and gawking at perfectly normal things.

As she started heading back to her parked motorcycle, a wave of revulsion rose within her. She never got used to this feeling.

Soulmates. Soul-bonding. Such innocuous terms. Most people were in love with the idea of bonding one's life to someone else. It was an expensive method but had become possible after years of research. Human beings had finally achieved the power of connecting two or more souls without losing their stability.

"Why?" An eight-year-old Ginny had asked her parents one day when her brothers were out playing. She wasn't allowed to join them. Her mum said it was because they were protective of her. She privately thought it was because of sexism. Whatever.

"Why what, dear?" Her mum didn't stop peeling her potatoes. Her dad was busy solving the crossword, but he winked at her.

"Why do people soul-bond? Is that necessary? Soulmates are stupid."

Her mum looked affronted at her questioning. She opened her mouth, but her dad gestured her to calm down. Dad was always on her side.

"Ginny," he took off his glasses, "it's an important, irreversible life decision. When you and your partner soul bond, you can feel everything they're feeling. It's hardwired to something in your brain which causes you and your partner to stay connected. I'm not great with medical terms, I'm afraid. And soulmates are not always those who soul bond."

She frowned. "How?"

"Soulmates are those who are ideally suited to you. You may not bond with someone who you are perfectly attuned to. But after soul-bonding, you are automatically thrown under the category of soulmates. But if you ask me, I think it's unfair. It's not exactly accurate, is it?"

"Who would want that?" Ginny had asked, completely horrified at the thought. Who would want to be connected all the time, with no privacy?

"Ginny. It's an expression of love. Don't you want to be connected with someone who you plan to share the rest of your life with?"Her mum shared a sappy look with dad.

She wasn't going to be pacified with this notion.

"Why didn't you do it then? You love each other, right?" She accused them.

Her parents exchanged a look. "We never had the money. It's quite expensive," her dad admitted shamefacedly. His expression lightened. "Doesn't make us love each other any less though."

"Fucking capitalism," she muttered as her motorcycle roared. Her parents were the prime example of why the entire soul-bonding business was a hoax. Everywhere she turned, she was bombarded with thousands of advertisements about bonding with your partner(s). Disgusting.

Her phone rang and she knew that it was Lorraine. She was late for practice. If she was any later, she would have to stay back to get reprimanded. Then, she would be late for her brother's dinner party. Another thing she was trying to avoid, but Ron had gotten significantly better at manipulating her.

"It'll be just a simple dinner, Ginny. Only my best mate will be here. You remember Harry, don't you? You haven't ever met the prat. You're the only one left. It'll be great," she mimicked Ron, wishing she had his flowery apron to strike a pose quite similar to their mum. The wind roared in her ears as she sped up. The road was empty in the morning.

Unbidden, she wondered whether Harry would serenade them with the tales of his soulmate the way Ron and Hermione and most of their friends usually did. If that was the case, she didn't want his pity and the frequent 'you have no idea what you're missing out' comments which got on her nerves.

She probably was the only sensible person left in this world and the next time someone pitied her she would jam a fork down their throat.

* * *

As Ginny entered the Granger-Weasley residence, she heard her brother bellow "There she is! Fashionably late!" She resisted the urge to bash him. The practice had been hell and she didn't want his condescension.

"Ron," an unfamiliar deep voice chimed in, "it's not a bloody meeting with the Prime Minister. Calm down." She smiled. Maybe, Harry was a likeable fellow.

"I'm home! And I brought the booze! I'm completely knackered so if you pull a mum, I'll hit you with this bottle," she announced. Ron appeared in front of her and took the bag of liquor from her. He stopped her as she tried to move past him.

"You okay?" He frowned. He pointed at the bruise blooming on her jaw. "That looks bloody awful."

"Didn't feel great either. Tamara tackled me from behind. She was chewed out by our coach, so we're even. What's for dinner?"

Hermione entered the hallway with a first-aid kit. Ginny groaned.

"Stop using the sodding connection to mind me! I'm okay. I've had worse." She considered stomping her foot, but her sister-in-law glared reproachfully at her.

"I'd do what she's telling me to do. She was the one who tended and yelled at Ron and me when we used to get into skirmishes playing football during our off days." The unfamiliar voice sounded from behind Ron. Her brother moved out of her way. She finally got the first proper glance of Harry. She had seen his photo at Ron's place, but damn. It didn't do him justice.

Ginny didn't know how to describe Harry. Except with the moniker 'the fittest man she had ever laid her eyes upon'.

Of course, Harry wasn't the most handsome man she had ever seen. Yet overall, he was gorgeous. He was a bit lanky, but it was apparent that his clothes were hiding a lot. On any other twenty-eight year man, the round glasses would have looked childish. Yet, they looked like a part of Harry's. Embarrassingly, she froze. Her brain yelled at her for acting like a teenager, but that voice silenced when he stepped forward with his hand stretched out in front of him.

"Hi, I'm Harry. Sorry for intruding." He smiled bashfully and rubbed the back of his neck with the other hand.

"Don't worry," she stepped forward and clasped his hand, accepting the warmth from his rough, big hand. "You are probably the best sight I've seen today. You've already brightened up my day. Nice to meet you. I'm Ginny." Internally, she cringed. Why was she acting so brazenly? He might be appealing, but she had never been so intrigued by a man in such a short time. What was he going to think?

Harry flushed adorably, but he met her gaze head-on. Her breath nearly caught when he lowered his head and planted a kiss on her hand. Goosebumps broke all over her body when her brother interrupted.

"Okay, okay. I made Cornish hen and Escarole Bistro salad with bacon. For dessert, we have treacle tart. I'll lay down the table. Now, get yourself checked out before joining us." He walked off.

"I should be helping him out. A pleasure to meet you, Ginny." Harry smiled softly at her and followed Ron.

She shook her head to clear out her dazed thoughts. She saw Hermione staring at her with her smug look.

"What?" Ginny asked gruffly. She didn't want to talk about this with Hermione. Not yet.

"Now, Ginny," Hermione opened the Arnica, "let's get you fixed up." She pulled her face closer to her.

"Bugger," Ginny muttered but didn't move away.

* * *

Harry was probably one of the most interesting people Ginny ever had the fortune of talking to. They were lost in their world, not noticing Ron and Hermione's silent high-fives and self-righteous looks. She was sure that Harry was also feeling the blooming attraction between them. Was it bad manners to ask someone whether they wanted to shag when they were sharing their precious memories?

They were in the middle of dinner when Hermione approached the one subject she didn't want to partake in. Classic Hermione, ruiner of good times.

"So, Ginny," she piled some salad on her fork, "I heard that a Reserve will play in the upcoming match. Who's leaving?"

"Jasmine won't be available for the entire week. Yeah." Ginny speared the meat violently. "She's off with her boyfriend to bond in the Netherlands. Leaving us to take the fall and play with our Reserve who still suffers from anxiety at the idea of playing. The worst part is no one's really mad of her. She's leaving us high and dry without a single notice and we can't even be pissed off about it."

Harry scrunched his eyebrows. He looked unfairly cute.

"Why wasn't she reprimanded? It's against the team policy, isn't it?"

She shook her head. "There's a clause that says if you have urgent matters regarding sickness, death or soul-bonding, you can leave. Ruddy idiotic rule."

Ron laughed. "Ginny is anti-soulmate." He gave Harry a knowing look. Harry raised his eyebrow and focused on her. She liked it.

"Well, I don't see the point of this. Thousands of cases are there in which soulmates regret soul bonding. Violence rates are skyrocketing. Your soulmate can stalk you. Who'd want that? Not everyone has a relationship like Ron and Hermione's. And this sentiment, that you love someone less because you're not spending an extravagant amount of money to bound yourself to someone else, is just plain stupid." She shook her head.

"I agree," Harry admitted. She stared at him. Upon seeing her gaping at him, he paused. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No. But usually, only a few people agree with me. It's a surprise and a welcome rarity."

Ron and Hermione exchanged a look and smiled. "Harry was always against the permanent joining of souls. He was quite open about it. We knew that you both will connect on that. Very few people are so open about their thoughts."

Ginny didn't like the gleam in Hermione's eye. "We're not the only ones. Thousands are protesting," she said defensively.

"As opposed to billions who aren't. You remember how I was. Still am. I didn't want to be a statistic. So, I rebelled."

"Oh, yes. I remember." He faced Ginny. "She was doing this crusade. Now, she's the traitor." They high-fived. She pulled back and fisted her hand. Hopefully, the tingling feeling would still be there for a while.

"Hey," Ron flipped him off. "We're happy like this. Besides, my wife's still fighting for justice."

Harry shook his head. His face steeled as if he was quite passionate about what he was going to say.

Ginny wanted to drag him back to her flat right then.

"I don't think soul-bonding should be glorified. It goes against the laws of physics and it's irreversible. Unhappy and toxic marriages of soulmates are increasing in number. My aunt and uncle were in one." He grimaced. "Not that they didn't deserve each other. But I wonder if they became worse stuck inside that horrid marriage."

"They were arseholes," Ron announced as he lifted his beer solemnly. Ginny wondered how awful was his home life if it made Hermione nod aggressively.

She knocked her elbows with Harry. He looked at her, surprised.

"I like how you turned out." She fought desperately to not notice Harry bite his lip and gaze deeply at her. But in vain.

Later on, as Ginny and Harry walked towards her flat (Ron had conveniently pushed them together towards the Tube), she asked the question that had been on her mind the entire evening.

"So..." She cleared her throat. "I believe there isn't a soulmate out there waiting for you."

Harry laughed. She was sure she didn't imagine him sliding in a little bit closer to her.

"I'm afraid I wasn't as fortunate as Ron and Hermione. Never met anyone who made me forgot my reservations about it and soul-bond. You?" He looked into her eyes, his expression a bit hesitant, a bit hopeful.

"I am never going to soul bond," she said vehemently. "My parents never did. Monetary issues. But they have been together for more than twenty years and much happier than those who are running off to bond themselves to others after barely knowing each other. I'm not doing that to myself. Soulmates...I don't know. You don't have to soul-bond to be soulmates."

"I know. That's great to know." He smiled at her, looking relieved.

Ginny stopped in her tracks, facing him completely. She stepped near him, feeling jubilant when she noticed him hold his breath.

"Why, Mr Potter? Planning to whisk me away to bond with you?" She lightly traced his bicep. He caught her hand, making her gasp.

"Not planning on bonding. But I was wondering whether you will be opposed to going out with me." He paused. "Erm, we can do anything you want. That is if you want to. No pressure. I'll back off."

"Why don't you come back to my flat?" She leaned into him. "We'll talk all night. And all morning. Depending on how it goes."

She forgot all about soul bonds when Harry cupped her face and connected their lips. Maybe this was her soulmate - her soulmate without the soul-bond everyone kept whining about. And she couldn't wait to find out.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for missing yesterday. I'll post two today if I can. Find me on [whiffingbooks](https://whiffingbooks.tumblr.com/)


End file.
